Bobbleheads rejoice!

(But where are the Federov, Varly and Semin statuettes?)

Coming up next...

A gentile, quiet, ever-so-polite series against our next worthy opponents.

Tension and suspense in Bobblehead-Land...

Though victorious on the ice going into Game 7, not all is well in
the Russia House as playoff fever intensifies...



"I'm leaving you for that hottie Var-LAH-mov..."



"She's the only cloth babushka I ever loved!"

"(sigh) What do I know about love - I'm just a beaded, armless,
red-eyed doll-child."





"Buckle not, padawan learner. Channel your energy into crushing
the Rangers. (Particularly that Paul Mara and his freaky red
beard.)"

"I shall, clay one. And we shall win!"



Read more of the Bobblehead Chronicles here.

"Your father should be fired!"

Sportsmanship in Bethesda, reported here in The Washington Post.

The kids were acting just fine - kids often do. This time, the parents were the ones cordoned off to a special corner of the stands for a time-out.

To mix my sports analogies, the "sin bin" for the rowdy helicopter moms and dads was 100 yards from the field, enforced like a restraining order by field managers with cell phones.

In the words of the League president and one of the calmer, more rational parents:

"This isn't World Cup soccer...this is seventh grade."

What next - bags of urine and car batteries hurled onto the field?

The Legacy team lost, 2-0. Their parents filed glumly off the hill, their timeout completed. They put their sweaty daughters in SUVs and minivans and quickly left the parking lot.

Many of the vehicles had stickers with the league's motto: "Lasting Friendships Through Soccer."

Return of the Red

"I hate Sean Avery, too, Mr. Tall Hockey Man."



"Dig the Hair Cuttery do but can you introduce me to #28 and Varly?"



Bring it on, Rangers. Bring it on.





Check out hot 2008 bobblehead goodness.

The 4-20 post

Within mere hours, WAMU segued from a story about "creatively re-appropriating" prescription drugs to make you be smarter to...

a hypothetical reinactment of marijuana legalization, celebrated two years later. (link unfindable, alas)

And not every quote from the latter was "yay weed!" One "interviewee" damningly indicted his fictitious friend.

"He's not as interesting since he started smoking pot."

Adderall vs. pot-4-all...

Wake 'n' bake vs. never sleep....

In which direction will human evolution lead?

What, praytell, is an "Oven Chicken," linguistically challenged Buffalo fans?

NHL playoffs, starting Wednesday, won't bring the Sabres to Verizon Center (or to any other game potentially leading to the Stanley Cup, for that matter).

However, Caps spectators may enjoy new rounds of spirited inter-city banter, wordplay and creativity.

What does such banter look like? Here are examples seen, heard and, well, splashed upon during the 2008-09 season:

- Elegant water fixtures

- Lovingly personalized jerseys

- A nine-year-old scarlet-decked Washingtonian shouting "Rangers suck" at the top of his wee lungs. (Parent-bloggers, shield your eyes.)

Even the Europeans have caught the playoff spirit. In Funchal, Portugal, the name "Crosby" is synonymous with masculine toughness.



Let the games begin. Grow those scratchy beards. Go Caps!

The Easter Bunny is rich. Very rich.

Painted Easter eggs in a supermarket in Zurich.

(Crack them open to find your latest bank statement.)

Good Fish Friday...

In honor of the holiday weekend, photos from the Madeira fish market in the Catholic nation of Portugal.

(On the eighth day, God created bacalau.)

Time

Like the fuzzy-bottomed red panda gratuitously posted here (because it is cute and because those other pandas get all the press), time is a sneaky creature and tends to scamper away of its own accord.

Mysteries of the time-space continuum that continue to elude me:

- Why does the Metro red line "next train arriving" sign always read double digits when I get to the platform?

- Why does 30 minutes on the elliptical seem longer than seven days on vacation?

- How can it be April already? (And why is it so damn cold still?)

- Why are the Smithsonian museums and DC galleries only open during business hours? I'd like to see some of this stuff after work thank you very much.

- Why does the "to do" list still have items remaining at 11 p.m.?

- Why are all the good tv shows clumped up on Monday night (and not spread out through mid-week when they're sorely needed)?

- If we all ran around without watches, Blackberries, alarms or clocks, how differently would we schedule our lives?